I almost snorted coffee through my nose when I read the commentary on the Hobby Lobby case being considered by the Supreme Court, an incredible and willful misrepresentation of the facts. They tossed around scary terms like “religious test” (though there is no such test by Hobby Lobby) and “religious extremists” who “seek to redefine religious liberty to mean the freedom to trample on the consciences of others and impose their beliefs on other people.”

Hobby Lobby is not imposing any belief on anyone, much less their employees. The business owners simply do not want to pay for something they consider morally wrong.

Hobby Lobby's current employee health insurance already covers most birth control pills, and the business objects only to being forced to pay for pills and IUDs that can keep a fertilized egg from implanting, because the company owners consider that a form of abortion and contrary to their faith convictions.

If anyone's religious liberty is at risk in this case, it is that of the company owners.

I feel like Goldilocks! If only San Antonio were “just the right size” (less than 850,000 or more than 1.9 million), VIA could offer us residents a vote on the trolley. Instead it's bound and determined to cram expensive nonversatile rails through crowded downtown streets.

VIA's Prímo route has been a nonrail success that didn't waste millions in construction dollars, nor did it kill local businesses by digging up Fredericksburg Road for years. Why not add many more Prímo routes for the same cost as this misbegotten rail project?

We just returned from Quito, Ecuador, where we were impressed by its Trolebus system of electric rubber-tired vehicles running in dedicated lanes in the historic downtown district. Fast, silent, emission-free and full of riders. Imagine how much cheaper to install just the overhead electric lines instead of both rails and electricity. And how much easier to re-route or expand. Trolebus may be pronounced “trolley-bus” but it's a superior idea.

As an additional bonus, Quito's bicycles share the dedicated lanes without fear of wrecking because of rails.

I just got back from Minneapolis, which has had a light rail streetcar for a number of years.

It runs from downtown through the airport to the Mall of the Americas. Several residents told me that it has never met expectations. Usage is low. The result is that the taxpayers have to highly subsidize its continued existence.

It seems to me that our local politicians want a nice project as a feather in their hats. The serious questions are whether it is worth all the money, including taxes on its residents. Who will use it besides the tourists?